Improvement in locomotives



. S. FNH,

Locomotives.

Paented NvQwiMS-y 1U N ITED STA-TES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMns s. `FRRNcR, or ALRxANDRIA, VIRGINIA.

`IMPRVENIENT LOCOMOTIVES.

v Specification formingrpart of Letters Patent No. 144,271, datedNovember 4, 1873 application led June 7,1873.

To all whom t may concern:

e' it known that I,JAMns S. FRENCH, of thefcity and county of Alexandriaand State of Virginia, have invented a new and useful` ,Improvement inthe Running-Gear of .f Locomotives; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is adetached view of the grooved driving-wheel resting on the common rail.Fig. 2 is a longitudinal vertical section, showing one method of raisingand lowering the grooved driving-wheels. Fig. 3 is a side view of thelocomotive, and Fig. 4L represents a' single wheel resting on a rail ofpeculiar shape adapted to the purpose.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

This invention is an improvement upon the device patented by James S.French, April 19, 187 0, No. 102,107, which consisted in the einploymentof grooved driving-wheels having wedge-shaped grooves, upon locomotives,for the piuipose of increasing adhesion to the track Withoutcorrespondingly increasing the weight of the wheel or engine. My presentimprovement consists in adapting the pair of drivingwheels thus groovedto be raised and lowered at pleasure by the engineer; and my object inthus constructing the locomotive is twofold, viz: First, to enable theengineer to raise the grooved wheels out of the way when passingswitches, frogs, or other obstructions, also when passing short curves,so that a locomotive can turn almost any curve, however short, withoutdanger of rimm'ng from the track, or of straining the wheels 5 secondly,to enable him to apply the grooved wheels to the track at the inclines,and when great adhesion is required, but to hold them suspended out ofcon tact with the rails at other times.

In the drawings, A is the locomotive; B, the forward drivin g-wheels,which are made with the ordinary hat tread, as heretofore, and

. may consist of one or more pairs, two pairs serving better to balancethe weight of the locomotive 5 and C, the wedge-shaped grooveddriving-wheels, constructed and operating in the manner and for thepurposes clearly set forth in my former patent above referred to,

the said grooved wheels griping the rails when pressed down, on theprinciple of the wedge. These wheels C C are connected by the ordinaryrod d to the wheels B B; and they are attached to 'an axle or axles,whose journalboxes can be raised or lowered by means of a lever, E, or ascrew, eccentric, or other hoisting device, operated either by hand, orby power obtained from the locomotive or any other available source. Ofcourse, the path through which the journal-boxes move in rising andfalling must be the arc of a circle, whose radius is the connecting-rodd, and whose center is at the axis of the forward drivers B B, in orderthat the parts may not .cramp when their position is changed; and

any guide, m, or other practicable device, may be employed for thepurpose of producing this result. As shown in Fig. 3, the wheels B B arebehind the center of gravity of the locomotive, so as to support theengine properly when the rear wheels are raised; and the apparatus maybe so constructed that, by depressing the rear wheels to a sufficientextent, the forward wheels can themselves be lifted fromv the track, andthe whole weight of the rear end of the locomotive be thrown upon thegrooved wheels, thereby increasing their adhesion to the rails to almostany degree.

The hoisting apparatus shown in Fig. 2 is not intended to represent thedevices which I shall employ in practical working locomotives, but onlyto show the principle of the inven tion, an d one mode of carrying itinto practice.

Another inode is to secure an eccentricallyslotted plate to each end ofthe shaft worked by the lever, and attach a pin to the axle-box, so asto project into or through the slot and rise or fall as the lever israised or depressed. The device'is very simple and effective; and thewheels, whether raised up or pressed down,

. may be kept in place by a catch holding the lever. If it be preferredto raise or depress the wheels by steam, then a small cylinder may besecured to the frame-work of the engine, the piston-rod of which shallconnect with the lever, and the valve of the cylinder be operated by arod placed within easy reach of the engineer. I do not, however, regardthe means for hoisting as essential, but consider myself at liberty touse any practicable means whatever without thereby departing from thespirit of the invention. The amount of power required to raise and lowerthe wheels will be very small, and can be applied to great advantage, asthere is abimdant room for leverage. The handle of theworking-levershould always be in the cab within easy reach of the engineer. Thisinvention is particularly adapted to narrow-gage railroads where thegrades are heavy, the running-gear light, and heavy locomotives are notpracticable. O11

such roads, the weight of the engine is not sufficient to give it therequisite traction power, which must be supplied by causing the wheelsto adhere to the track by mechanical means. But this necessity forgreater adhesion is not constant or uniform, and the apparatus should bealways under the complete -control of the engineer, who should be ableto apply it to any extent required, or dispense lwith it altogether,whenever and as long as he deems best. The invention herein described`is believed toanswer all these requirements to as complete an extent asis practicable. The cost of thus constructing a locomotive is little, ifany, more than that of constructing an oldfashioned one of the samesize. It requires vno additional central rail, and no new or'pe culiarform of rails, but is adapted to any railroad as now constructed, and toany form or size of locomotive.

and the hoisting apparatus E or its equivalent,

substantially as and for the purposes herein described. Y

3. One or more pairs of ordinary drivingwheels connected with a pair ofwedge-shaped grooved driving-wheels, which may be lifted above therails, or pressed down upon the rails, at the will of the engineer,substantially as described.

JAMES S. FRENCH.l

Witnesses:

JAS. H. SrRINGFELLow, JNO. LONERGAN.

